Tottenham Hotspur Ladies FC -

Under-13 Whites match reports 2005-06

This was not a game for the football purists and with heavy rain throughout the match both teams resorted to a long ball game that had both defences under siege.

The first half was slow with Enfield starting the brighter and with a determination to kick-start their season.  Spurs seemed to be coping well with the aerial threat until a lapse of concentration in the defence allowed a striker to be played onside and she hit the ball home past Nicola Davey in goal.

The introduction of debutant Leasha Ngotho with Lindsey Cockle saw Spurs try to claw back an early equaliser but shots from the impressive Rhiannon Kelly and Andrea Edobor failed to find the back of the net.

Just before half time Zoë Jackson was injured as Nicola collided with her own player when racing to clear the ball and Lucky Di Biasio was restored to defence with Zoë sidelined for the remainder of the game.

Spurs pressed for the equaliser in the second half, but were met by some fierce resistance from a team determined to hang onto their lead.  Disappointingly, as an attack broke down, Spurs failed to clear the ball on the right and an attacker stole in to shoot and then score after Sian Osmond saved initially.

This Spurs side never gives up and at 2-0 down they pressed and pressed Enfield back into their own half with grit and determination that saw an avalanche of chances.  However, the goalkeeper was having a good game, with her positioning key, as she stopped two long shots from Andrea that looked certain to go in.

It looked like it was going to be one of those days, until a slice of luck saw the Enfield defence static, assuming an offside and Lindsey Cockle stroking the ball home.  After a brief consultation with the linesman the goal was given and Spurs went looking for the equaliser.

Leasha Ngotho then came very close to scoring on her debut when a ball from Paige Barnard broke the offside trap and put distance between her and the defenders.  Her sprint finished with a shot that agonisingly hit the post with the keeper recovering the ball before a follow up was possible.

With time ticking away Spurs went three at the back and played with three strikers as Jodie joined Leasha and Lindsey up front to add some pace and with the added pressure Spurs won a corner with five minutes to go.   The situation demanded that Spurs took a chance and all outfield players advanced to the penalty area.

The corner by Andrea Edobor was a beauty and met with a point blank header at the far post by the brave Rhiannon Kelly, who was promptly buried by her ecstatic teammates as they descended on her.

The last few minutes could not produce the winner, but everyone went home knew that although the weather had played its part, they had seen a very exiting game with a thrilling finale.

KEVIN FENN

Cambridge City  1     Queens Park Rangers  6     
Watford Ladies  1     Harpenden Colts  1     
St. Albans Youth  -     Luton Town Belles  -     

Lindsey Cockle started the scoring when a lob from Rhiannon Kelly fell to her feet for an easy tap in and this was quickly followed by a classic drive from Chloe Gunn from the edge of the area to put Spurs 2-0 up in the opening ten minutes.  

Some neat passing found Rhiannon with space on the left and her run and dribble finished with a lob over the keeper for number three.  

Chloe was always threatening and her first time ball across the area was met first time by Leasha to claim her first goal for the team on her second appearance and she was obviously delighted to get off the mark.

Jodie was proving a threat on the right and her chip into the box saw Rhiannon claim her second after beating the goalkeeper to the ball.  Another soon followed this for Chloe when she made space and fired an unstoppable ball into the corner for number six.  

Jodie provided the seventh when her cross was delivered deeper to Andrea in space and she emphatically finished with a left footed volley to the right of the keeper that had everyone on their feet cheering.  It was Andrea who added number eight when Paige Barnard delivered from deep and she dispatched with the same authority.  

Rhiannon finished the first half off with another hat-trick as she tapped in a Chloe pass to finish off a good spell for Spurs.  

The second half saw St Albans salvage their pride with a spirited performance that saw Spurs goals dry up.  The defence was tested but Zoë, Paige, Stephanie and Lucky ensured that no goals were conceded leaving the goalkeepers Sian and Nicola with little to do.  

The nearest Spurs came to scoring in the second half was a run from deep by Katie Goodland and a fantastic strike that ballooned off the crossbar.

KEVIN FENN

To see photos from the game click here.

Cambridge City  -     
Queens Park Rangers  -     
Watford Ladies  -     
Harpenden Colts  -     
St. Albans Youth  -     
Luton Town Belles  - 

With the temperature gauges showing 0 degrees, the Spurs players were eager to get the game underway in the League Cup game against Northwood.

It was Spurs who started the brighter of the two teams with a dominant spell of possession.  The best chance of the opening five minutes came from Katie Goodland, who drove into the area with the ball and was unlucky to see her shot tipped behind the post by the Northwood goalkeeper.

After numerous attempts, Tottenham finally managed to break the deadlock with an impressive goal.  Rhiannon Kelly worked hard on the left and picked out Chloe Gunn in the centre.  After one touch, Chloe effortlessly lobbed the ball over the keeper.

The Spurs faithful had to wait only two minutes to see the second Spurs goal, which again came from Chloe Gunn.  Her alertness to pick up on a sloppy clearance from the Northwood keeper allowed her time to pick her spot and place the ball in the top right hand corner.

Spurs then enjoyed a spell of possession which saw both Leasha Ngotho and Paige Barnard come close to adding a third goal, which finally came in the 17th minute and was a credit to the passing abilities of the side.  The move began in the Spurs defence with Katie, who moved the ball to Laila El Haddad, who then very swiftly moved the ball to Chloe, who needed only one touch to swing the ball over to the back post, where it was met by the foot of Rhiannon Kelly to score her 15th goal of the season.

With Spurs in a buoyant mood, going into the second half, it was clear to see that they were searching for more goals the next of which came only two minutes into the second half.  Laila made a strong run down the right flank to the by-line, then managed to pull the ball back across the goal to an unmarked Lindsey Cockle, who tapped the ball past the despairing Northwood keeper's dive for Spurs' fourth of the game.

The next twenty minutes saw Spurs desperately trying to add to their total and coming painfully close to do so.  Chloe played a short corner to Andrea Edobor, who turned on the corner of the penalty area and saw her shot come off the under-side of the crossbar.  It was Stephanie Smith's turn to hit the woodwork after a twenty-five yard run in which she beat three Northwood defenders. 

Andrea saw her hard work pay off when she slotted home Spurs' fifth after driving in from the left wing and it was Stephanie who rounded the game off for Spurs, when she took advantage of some lax Northwood defending in the area, by turning with the ball and slamming home for a well deserved goal.

A spirited performance from al the members of the Spurs side saw them run out deserved winners in a game where they were unlucky not to score more goals !!

DANIEL COCKLE

Group A
Hitchin Town Belles  0  Hemel Hempstead  3

Group B
Hatfield Town Youth  0  Princes Park  14
St. Albans City Youth  0  Enfield Town Ladies  3

Group C
Luton Town Belles  1  Watford Ladies  1

After a slow start, Spurs Under-13 Whites turned on the goals to shoot them through to the semi-final of the London FA Youth Cup.

Facing opposition from South London, who played well considering they are used to playing mini-soccer, were mostly eligible for the Under-12 age group and had three key players missing, Tottenham were frustrated by some good defending until the 16th minute, when a corner was headed against the bar by Laila El Haddad and then Rhiannon Kelly followed up to hit the post.  The Valley Park keeper was called upon to make some saves, as Spurs pressed goalwards, but their crossing allowed the visitors to escape some further worries.

The breakthrough came in the 18th minute, when Chloe Gunn beat three players in the right corner of the pitch and crossed for Rhiannon to knock the ball home at the far post.  Spurs went close six minutes later when Andrea Edobor produced a lob from 25 yards that dropped just over the bar.

A good team goal gave Spurs a 2-0 lead, when it was built up from Paige Barnard at the back through Lucky Di Biasio and Andrea to Rhiannon on the left, who put in an inviting cross that Laila volleyed neatly home with the outside of her foot.  

Valley Park nearly got back into the match just before the break, but Nicola Davey showed her concentration in goal with a timely dash from her line and then bravely pouncing on the loose ball to deny the Rangers an opportunity.

After the break, Spurs capitalised as Valley Park's players tired on the big pitch.  Ever full of running, Chloe Gunn hit the third goal six minutes after the restart, when she ran through and pushed the ball one side of a defender and went on to hit the ball past the keeper.  Five minutes later, Chloe repeated her goal with a run from the halfway line and a shot that could not be stopped

The opposition had not given up hope and played some good inter-passing and opened up the Tottenham defence, bringing Nicola out to the edge of her area to make a very good save from a Rangers player running through.

With 25 minutes left, Rhiannon produced a shot that hit the net to make it 5-0 and three minutes after, Leasha ran half the length of the pitch to score after the keeper had saved her initial effort.   Four minutes from the end, the scoring was completed, with Rhiannon tapping the ball over the line after the goalie had once more denied Leasha and Laila.

The Valley Park Rangers side should be congratulated in their performance in what must have been a difficult experience for them, but they hopefully will have benefited from it and it will help them when they move up to 11-a-side on a regular basis.

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After extra time

London FA Youth Cup - Semi-final

Spurs were 2-1 down at half time with Long Lane taking advantage of a sloping pitch to put Spurs under pressure from the start.  The back four of Jodie Fenn, Zoë Jackson, Paige Barnard and Stephanie Smith showed plenty of resilience and appeared to be coping well under a great deal of pressure from the Lions forward line.  

The first goal for the home team came after goalkeeper Sian Osmond produced a save from close range, but the loose ball was followed up and just rolled over the line despite a gallant effort by Lucky di Biasio to clear.  

Spurs soon got over the disappointment of conceding a goal by concentrating their efforts at the other end of the pitch with Andrea Edobor coming close, but firing wide when put through by Chloe Gunn.  There followed a succession of corners that had the Lions under pressure but Spurs failed to capitalize on the chances and Long Lane were let off the hook.  

After a brief lull Long Lane went on the offensive again and upped the tempo sensing that a one-goal margin was not going to be enough.  Whilst Spurs were defending well they found themselves 2-0 down when an opposition player created space and shot only for it to take a big deflection off a Spurs player that left Sian moving in the opposite direction.  

Those who watch this Spurs team regularly know that they are capable of pulling back deficits and they started from the kick off forcing Long Lane back into their own half and with the midfield pushing up, gaps were opening and Lindsey Cockle capitalised when she lifted the ball over the stranded goalkeeper and followed the ball over the line.  

In the second half Spurs went looking for an early equaliser with Nicola Davey and Lindsey Cockle spearheading the attack and Zoë Jackson switching from the back four to a more offensive midfield position.  Chloe Gunn started to find space to create opportunities for Rhiannon Kelly and she used her pace to take on the left back.  Andrea Edobor started to put more energy into the midfield and suddenly Long Lane started to look vulnerable.  

Again, a succession of corners should have brought an equaliser, but Long Lane were defending well under pressure and subsequent shots from Zoë and Chloe were charged down as Spurs tried to find a way through.  Nicola Davey was doing very well as a stand-in striker and did manage to find the net, but the referee had already blown for offside.  

However, the moment did eventually arrive when a through ball from Chloe into space looked destined for the arms of the goalkeeper until Rhiannon used all her pace to put the goalkeeper under pressure.  She arrived just in time to somehow get a touch to the ball that took the ball past the goalkeeper and she calmly tapped the ball into an empty net.  The momentous moment ensured that Rhiannon was swamped by her ecstatic team-mates.  

Spurs almost got the winner soon after with a copycat move from Chloe and Rhiannon, but this time the goalkeeper just about beat her to the ball.  Zoë, Chloe and Andrea all tried shots from distance, but none of them found the back of the net.  

Extra time arrived and a moment of extreme disappointment for the girls, who had worked so hard to get back in the game.  With the linesman clearly flagging for a clear offside decision the referee waved play on and Long Lane took advantage to steer the ball home.  

Spurs went three at the back with Paige pushed up into midfield and Stephanie Smith joined the front line as Spurs put all their remaining energy into the second half of extra time.  There were plenty of tired legs, but great credit to the girls they took the game to the home team but in the end Long Lane defended very well and held on to the final whistle.

KEVIN FENN

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Match postponed.

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